Gaara & Itachi: A Shinobi Battle
by KazekageNoGaara
Summary: Gaara & Itachi. Pride & Power. Read as the pair fight one another for their personal ambitions. Sadness...death...love...lonliness Everything about the strongest shinobi battle. Who will protect their precious dreams?
1. Chapter 1

**Gaara & Itachi: A Shinobi Battle**

**Chapter 1: The Beginning To The Fiercest Of All Battles**

The sand - A tattered memory of an innocent child's past. Craving the opportunity of love, just like the brand above his left eye states. "Love"; disguised in the fragrance of mystery until that boy... Uzumaki Naruto saved the tortured soul within him. Now, this shattered boy fights and commands with the passion of his title: Kazekage. To love brings power, and to hate brings demise, so now as he learned to love the people of his village which lays deep in the Hidden Sands, he also learned what the brand on his forehead means. He will protect this village... and will not die trying, for he has no desire to ever leave the smiling faces of the children that now look up to him. This hero... his name is Sabaku no Kazekage Gaara(Kazekage Gaara of the Sand).

On an early morning, deep in the outskirts of the Hidden Sand, Kase Kankurou, the brother of Gaara was out training with his fixed up puppets, trying to become greater as a shinobi as most shinobi's do. He ended up emitting his chakra threads from his fingertips, gently swaying two of his three amazing reconstructed puppets past a fence he had put up all around him with different objects raised from the tops of them, attempting to learn some better accuracy when it comes to a real shinobi battle as he started launching poisoned needles into what seemed to be a fake puppet head. Kankurou ran towards the left. He slid across the great sands beneath his feet and raced towards the side as he thought to himself, "Heh! Looks like I'm getting faster". Suddenly... Kankurou jumped to his front and layed low. "Shit! I definitely feel the presence of an immense amount of chakra!" said Kankurou as his teeth gently clenched together with a pondering expression layed upon his painted face. Kankurou looked to his left towards the elevated rocks leading through to the Hidden Sand and seen an explosion collapse a piece of it, watching it fall shattered boulders of rock onto the lookout guards of the village, killing dozens of them. "What the hell's going on?" he spoke as frantic as possible as a gentle, calm voice from behind him spoke. "...you lay there, already defeated, huh?". Kankurou's eyes shot open in surprise as he rolled himself to the side next to Karasu(The needle spitting puppet) as he looked up and seen none other than a man draped in the robe of the Akatsuki, the secret organization made up of all S-class ninja who are sent on missions for power to collect all the Jinchuriki(Beasts, such as Shukaku & Kyuubi). Kankurou speaks in anger, "Who the fuck are you?". The man spoke, "Uchiha... Itachi". "Uchiha?..." Kankurou mutters to himself as he reflects back onto Sasuke, remembering the Uchiha name. "I heard about you! You're the one who caused that kid Sasuke to abandon his village during the reinforcement mission I was sent on!" Kankurou said as he got himself up off the ground while silently emitting his chakra threads into Karasu. "You can have that one... but this one... shall be disposed of" said Uchiha Itachi as he focused his eyes on the other puppet, making it blow into pieces as Kankurou looked at Itachi in shock, realizing he has the Sharingan... but this one seemed different from before. As he noticed the Sharingan, he looked down at his fingertips and realized his chakra threads were now mysteriously poisonous snakes as they chomped down on his fingers. Kankurou let out a scream and tried to shake them off as he stumbled himself back, falling on the ground. Suddenly... the sand beneath him starts sucking him in while he's trying to fight off the snakes on his fingers. He is then consumed by the sand beneath him and lays trapped beneath a solid wall. He looks around at his surroundings, having just barely enough room to move and realizes he's being slowly crushed. Suddenly, sharp katanas spring out from the walls and into Kankurou's upper back, then lower back, and then sharply into his throat. Kankurou starts screaming in tremendous pain with the most horrid of screeches as tears roll down his cheek, wiping the paint on his face away. Then, out of nowhere, Kankurou appears suddenly back on the ground where he first was before looking into Itachi's Sharingan. Kankurou looks over to his side with wide eyes and a wide open mouth as he seen his sister Temari standing there infront of him with her fan out that she apparently used, doing no harm at all to the Uchiha, except distract him from what apparently was a Genjutsu(Illusionary Technique) as Kankurou then drops himself completely to the floor as he is knocked heavily unconscious with his body slightly twitching. "Get back! Stay away!" Temari screams with her fan placed behind her, readying to wield the power she can emit from it. "I have no need for you or the boy, nor will I kill any more of your villagers. Relay this to your Kazekage - Meet me at this location as soon as possible. I've decided since I haven't tested my power since I slaughtered my clan, I'd test it against someone who might possibly be the strongest of Jinchuriki to suit my needs for power. Get him, or maybe I will make your village collapse in fear" Itachi speaks in his domineeringly silent, yet clandestine voice. Temari runs to Kankurou and picks him up over her small shoulders, replying to the man "If you feel like getting killed today, then I'll most certainly bring Gaara here!" as she runs off back towards the sand. Itachi looks to them and sighs in angst.

Now inside the Hidden Sand, Gaara is listening in on a meeting with the council of the village as he sits in his chair. "No! It wouldn't be safe to higher the age of Genin graduates in the village! We need them faster since this village isn't empowered enough by it's military ninja! Ever since being deceived by Orochimaru, we've lacked in numbers! Do you see where I'm coming from?" said one of the older men in the meeting. "Fool! If we lower it or keep it the way it was, we'd just be training more mediocre ninja to make this a country lacking in power! It may take longer for the numbers to rise, but if we train our kids longer... and harder... they'll be better ninja!" said a scruffy looking man to Gaara's left as Gaara himself just seemed quite uninterested in the discussion. Suddenly, a bang at the door alerts the attention of Gaara as someone nearby opens it, seeing a medical ninja as he started screaming "Kazekage-sama! It's Kankurou!". Gaara's eyes gently widen as he listens to the rest of what the medical ninja had to say as he let out a deep breath of air. "Kase Kankurou... he's in critical condition in the ER! Temari reported that it has to do with Akatsuki. Temari wants you there right away, Sir!". Gaara gets up and silently says to himself... "Akatsuki?".

At the Hospital, Temari sits to the side of Kankurou as ninja begin to look at his condition. "Nothing physically seems to be wrong with him, but the bio-electrodes to his brain are increased at a highly fast pace for some reason. Also, his pulse and heartbeat is out of control. He should stay rested until he wakes. It looks like a possible head injury" the medical ninja says to Temari as she nods her head up and down with a curious intent in her eyes as she thinks to herself "That's weird... Kankurou didn't hit his head... and even if he did, it was only when he passed out, which couldn't do this much damage. I seen that guys eyes. It was definitely a Genjutsu". Suddenly, shock comes across her face. "Wait! Those eyes... that's right. It was Sharingan that was in his eyes! That means... He's..." Temari spoke as she got cut off to the voice of Gaara who had arrived next to her. "Temari" he said. "Why is Kankurou in the Hospital?" he spoke, looking directly into Temari's eyes. Temari replied back "He was ambushed, as were the guards on patrol outside the opening to the Hidden Sand, and you wouldn't believe by who!". Gaara sighs and mutters with his throat a curious expression. "It was... Uchiha Itachi" Temari speaks. "Uchiha... Itachi, eh?" Gaara then replies as he listens in on more of what Temari must say; "Gaara! Itachi wants to test his ability on you. He's out to kill you, and he's waiting right outside the village entrance! He threatened the village if you don't go out there!". Gaara's expression turned to bitterness as he looked over to one of the councilman to his side who accompanied him. "Uchiha Itachi... of the Sharingan. Currently a member of Akatsuki and was an elite Konoha ninja before the age of 12 before becoming a missing-nin after slaughtering his entire clan except his brother..." said the councilman as Gaara then speaks to himself in reply to the councilman's statement "...Sasuke". The councilman then makes a request. "Kazekage, Sir! Should we report this to the rest of the council and send out our top ninja to exterminate the problem?" he speaks. Gaara then replies "No. The fight will be outside the village. What no one knows will not hurt them. I will keep this village safe. There's no need to scare everyone. I'll kill him, and bring back his head" as he walks out of the Hospital to meet up with Itachi, but before he walks out the door, he states to Temari "Take care of Kankurou... I'll be back soon". "Okay... Gaara" she replies as she watches her little brother, the Kazekage of an entire village go out to protect it, knowing this could possibly be the last time she will see her brother. Temari looks up towards the ceiling while holding Kankurou's hand as she speaks silently... "Thank you... Uzumaki Naruto, for creating a hero for us".

Back at the area where Kankurou was laid out by the Mangekyou Sharingan, Itachi waits as he looks over to the entrance of the Hidden Sand. He blinks his mighty Sharingan slowly, revealing as he opens them again a cloud of sand floating his way at a high speed. Itachi smirks and gives a pleasing sigh. As the sand moves closer to Itachi, the body of Gaara ontop of it becomes visible. Sand shoots up from underneath Itachi's feet, but he jumps back a bit avoiding it as Gaara gently allows the sand to dissipate about 30 feet from Itachi as he lays his sandals upon the peach colored sand of the desert. Itachi smirks again as he speaks..."Sabaku No Gaara... I wish no more harm upon your comrades, but you I wish to kill, and take that Shukaku(Gaara's Jinchuriki) of yours for myself". Gaara replies "Fine. Come..." as sand slowly rotates around his body like an aura of chakra while Itachi's Sharingan zooms in on him. The two stare each other in the eyes.

It seems like this is the beginning to an amazing battle between two of some of the most powerful shinobi in all of the world. On one side, possibly the most powerful ninja in the strongest shinobi group "Akatsuki", and on the other side is the Kage of the Hidden Sand who is enveloped by the chakra of the one-tailed Jinchuriki named Shukaku. Who will start the fight in this stand off, and who will come out a victor? Only the shortest of time shall tell for the answers of this amazing battle!


	2. Chapter 2

**Gaara & Itachi: A Shinobi Battle**

**Chapter 2: Past Of The Shinobi**

In the village of the Hidden Leaf, there was once a noble clan that helped reinforce the law and order into it's society to maintain peace and prosperity. This was the Uchiha clan, the operators of the special police force and holders of the omnipotent power of the Sharingan Doujutsu. Uchiha Itachi, once a member in that clan had been known as the son of the police chief. It put him up on a pedestal of empowerment and encouragement as the boy would train hard, quickly surpassing all of the Uchiha clan and becoming its representative. When you heard the Uchiha name, you'd hear behind it the name of Itachi. He learned to use his clans family Doujutsu at the age of 8, and was enlisted into the ANBU squads. He was a proud member of the clan until age and skill started wearing on his conscience. As time went by and Itachi got older, he realized that ninja, including in the clan, can be so much more if they didn't hold themselves back by the limitations of something as trivial as their clan and devoted their time into themselves instead. Itachi decided to take the different route as a ninja and tried his own method of increasing his potential by excluding himself from feeling, following in the path of power. He had enough of the clan pride and snapped when he was ready and managed to obtain the greatest power of all the Uchiha clan... the Mangekyou Sharingan, and he killed every single person in the clan except his brother Sasuke... who looks to sadly be taking the same route as his brother now. Even though Itachi had the power of love and friendships, he felt used and couldn't use those feelings for support. He took the hard way through the times, and this is now where it leaves him today...

Outside the Hidden Sand, in the area of desert not far from his home, Gaara is seen lurking into the eyes of Itachi. Itachi does the same as the boiling sun leaves a sparkle burning brightly into his crystal red Sharingan. The two just stand each other down as sand from the floor grazes the feet of the two opponents as it's carried by the wind. The two shinobi who are both not too interested in words look as if they're thinking about how they're gonna kill each other. Suddenly, "Ha!" Gaara screams as he launches a beam of dense, chakra embedded sand at Itachi. Itachi jumps back with the sand as he swipes it away with his right hand, landing back onto the sandy ground. Itachi then performs a Katon(Fire Element) Seal. "Katon! Karyuu Endan!(Fire Element! Fire Dragon's Flame Blast!)" screams Itachi as he releases a magnificent stream of fire in the shape of a dragon as it's hurled quickly at Gaara! Gaara's shield of sand quickly covers the attack as his vision from the enemy disappears. The attack finishes and the shield of sand that protected Gaara drops onto the desert floor as he gains visibility again, realizing that his opponent is gone. Gaara realizes that he couldn't be hiding too well in a giant open area of just sand and desert, with apparently no hiding spots. Curiously, he takes a step forward, and from beneath him, Itachi grabs hold of his foot with his left hand, jumping up from out of the sand with Gaara still in hand. Itachi gives a few kidney shots to the now very surprised Kazekage as he then side swipes him away with a swift slice to the face using his right hand. Gaara lands hard against a hard area of desert floor as he flips himself back up quickly, pressing his right hand upon the ground, launching his body back on two feet. Gaara stumbles back a bit, but gains control of his balance. "Katon! Housenka!(Fire Element, Mythical Fire Flower!)" screams Itachi after performing yet another seal as multiple blasts of fire spout from his mouth towards Gaara. Gaara then quickly launches his sand at all the targets, but before making contact with them and smothering the fire with his dense sand, kunais would disperse from the flames and are redirected around Gaara using a method of chakra threads that Itachi used his Sharingan to copy off of Kankurou. Gaara notices the kunai, but can't turn in time. Luckily, the kunai are halted by the shield of sand as it protects him yet again. The kunai hit the ground after being shielded by the sand, but Gaara realizes too late that explosive tags were embedded on the kunai as they blow him from the back, knocking him forward towards Itachi, allowing him to become quite vulnerable... and with that to Itachi's advantage, he moves quicker than the sand behind Gaara and locks him by the arms. "You barely test my abilities" Itachi says to Gaara. Gaara smirks, and suddenly Gaara's entire body becomes sand! Apparently, Gaara used a Bunshin Jutsu(Clone Technique). Now, as the sand leaks down from Itachi's arms, Gaara appears from below, launching himself with his fist out at Itachi's chin, but Itachi side steps the Kazekage's rare use of Taijutsu(Physical Technique). Now, in mid-air, Gaara gets kicked back as he lands on two feet yet again after gliding across the ground of the desert. "His movements are like mine back then..." Gaara thinks to himself as he tries to recall the past...

"Konoha... The Hidden Leaf. I remember..." says Gaara as images of the Hidden Leaf come to his mind, recalling the situations he endured at the time. "Uchiha Sasuke... Are you scared of me?... Uchiha Sasuke!" Gaara says on a treetop half-transformed into the Jinchuriki of Shukaku as Sasuke hides behind a stump, trying to focus his mind off the seal of Orochimaru that was fueled by hatred as it spread across his body. "It looks like I have no other choice" Sasuke thinks to himself as he tries to form a third Chidori(Thousand Birds) even though it could kill him. Sasuke focuses the power through Gaara's Demented yelling, and passes onto the floor. Suddenly... Naruto arrives with Sakura to save him before Gaara finished his final attack. Gaara then remembers throwing Sakura against a tree, locking her by the sand of Shukaku, threatening to kill her unless Gaara was killed himself... that's when he seen what could come of love from the people around you, and how it can give you power, watching Uzumaki Naruto; a mostly useless ninja at the time take on one of the deadliest assassins of the sand and battle equally. "We're the same... but luck gave me its fortune by not allowing me to be alone, but he... Gaara... has been alone for as long as he can remember. I understand his pain so much that it even hurts!" were the thoughts of Naruto before the final attack. Naruto and Gaara jump at one another with a punch made elevated quite far in the sky as both drop like rocks to the ground of the forest beneath them, unable to move their bodies. "How can he do this for a stranger? I know I'm stronger than him... but his will gives him such stamina! I think I understand now..." Gaara thinks to himself, looking Naruto in the eyes, unable to move as Naruto forcefully drags his lifeless body towards Gaara with nothing but his chin until realizing Sakura was safe from harm with Gaara watching him pass out after words. Gaara learned a lesson that day, seeing that if you do truly have special people in your life, it'll make you stronger than just the pure aggression of hatred and pain. Why live in such an unsightly way when there are still opportunities to have the ability to protect other lives? To be responsible for the care of human beings was the lesson Gaara learned that day, and thanks to Uzumaki Naruto, he became a new man.

Back at the Hidden Sand Hospital, Kankurou wakes up slightly in the bed at the ER. "Te...mari" he says quite hesitantly. "Yes, Kankurou?" replies Temari. Kankurou speaks, "Don't look...in his eyes" not realizing he's in the ER or really what happened as he was drowsy and worn out completely as he falls back to sleep. "Rest... Relax, Kankurou. Everything will be fine" says Temari as she thinks to herself..."So, it really was a Doujutsu. Gaara, come back safely". The man from the council looks over at the two and tilts his head downwards, feeling worried and sorrowful.

Back on the battlefield, Gaara and Itachi stare eachother down again. Blood gently drips from the side of Gaara's lip. "You are like me back then... That means, since I have the power to love for another human being, I have a stronger will" Gaara says looking eye-to-eye with Itachi as he replies, "To each his own, Gaara-sama. I only obtained the power I have through discontinuing my bonds. I've become the exact opposite of the path it seems you have taken. Concentrating on yourself will devote more of yourself to perfecting skill". "No... You're wrong. Uzumaki Naruto was a clown who had no real ninja potential, but he almost beat me in battle with the stamina and will of his friends" said Gaara as Itachi quickly replied, "Ahh... Naruto. You also forget to mention besides will and other things pointless that he fought with, he also fought with the power of a Jinchuriki named Kyuubi, so don't be so opulent and optimistic about the idea of will just yet". "I don't believe I'm wrong, but if I am then I want you to prove it to me now!" yells Gaara. Itachi then replies with no words, but with body language as he curls his finger out and towards himself, calling for Gaara to go after him. This battle is about to truly heat up.

Who will prove the truth of differed opinions? Itachi, the abandoning ninja, or will it be Gaara, the sand Kazekage who vowed to protect his village whole-heartedly? Actions speak louder than words... and these two valuable shinobi have a lot of action to share with one another! Who will win in this highly anticipated stand off? Only the shortest of time shall tell the answers of this upcoming battle!


	3. Chapter 3

**Gaara & Itachi: A Shinobi Battle**

**Chapter 3: The Fire Battles Sand!**

In the outskirts of the Hidden Sand, Gaara and Itachi are left staring eachother down as Itachi sends a signal over to Gaara, readying to battle the red headed leader of the village. Both men stare down at eachother knowing that this is going to be a showdown of incredible heights. Quickly now, Gaara erects his arms outwards, hurling sand at Itachi as he easily cuts them away using a kunai. Gaara haults his attack as Itachi gets closer and closer to him, running forward as he knocks those blasts of sand away. Itachi stops about 30 feet away from him and performs a hand seal. "Katon! Gamayo Emudan!(Fire Element! Fire Blowing!)" Itachi yells, finishing the seal as he emits a huge flame from his mouth at Gaara. The attack gets blocked by his shield of sand as it disperses away towards the sides. Itachi stops the blast and jumps up into the air. Gaara watches him as his eyes open greatly, summoning sand from the ground to hurl towards Itachi. Itachi gets hit by the sand that erupted as it pierces through his abdomen. Blood spews from his mouth as his Sharingan disperses... along with his body in a cloud of smoke, as it was only a Kage Bunshin no Jutsu(Shadow Clone Technique). Gaara's eyes shift around towards his sides looking for the mysterious man draped in the clothing of the Akatsuki organization and yet again he see's not a thing. Gaara then remembers he attacked from underground last time this happened, and he begins to run away from the area he had been fighting with Itachi at. All of a sudden, as Gaara runs, a pile of the ground beneath him starts following underground, easily being aware that it was Itachi, so Gaara jumps up allowing the sand to hover beneath his feet and forcefully push him up into the air as he spreads his arm outwards, throwing multiple Suna Shurikens(Sand Shurikens) into the ground at Itachi. Itachi jumps up and is pierced by the attack! Yet again... it was just a Kage Bunshin, but from out of no where, Itachi is above Gaara! Gaara doesn't realize until after the shield of sand blocked the kunai Itachi had pierced the shield with. Itachi was struggling with the kunai to push it straight through the sand as Gaara turns around. Suddenly, Itachi breaks through the sand, but thankfully, in that short time, Gaara was still able to attack as he tilted his hand forward, calling out "Sabaku Kyuu!(Desert Coffin!) As sand shot at Itachi, covering his whole body except for his head in extremely dense sand! "I'll make this short!" yells Gaara as he looks into Itachi's eyes. The sand explodes and crushes inwards onto Itachi, but suddenly blood started to pour from Gaara's mouth and eyes. He didn't understand what was happening, but he was in terrible pain. Gaara's breathing becomes hard as he takes a knee to the floor, looking into the palm of his hand as he noticed that there was an eye there! He jumped back a bit, worrying about what was happening as the eye turned into a Sharingan... then showing images of what just happened a minute ago. Gaara watches into his hand as he then see's himself performing the Sabaku Kyuu jutsu... but he see's Itachi escaping, and then slicing his throat with the kunai! "A-am... Am I dead!" Gaara thinks to himself before realizing he's in a Genjutsu(Illusion). "Genjutsu!... I can feel the mental damage taking over. It's the same weight as the feel I had from Kankurou when I saw him..." Gaara thinks to himself with shock. "This mental anguish... it is nothing compared to what I went through!" he screams as he stands up, looking over the sand he was left on. "ITACHI!" screams Gaara as he closes his eyes with his fists held closed tightly. As he opens them, he realizes he made it out of the Genjutsu. He looked forward and see's Itachi still in the Sabaku Kyuu jutsu. It seemed only a split second passed before the Genjutsu started as he see's Itachi's eyes closing and opening again with his pupils twitching slightly. It seems the Mangekyou Sharingan was used longer than it should have been, including with Kankurou. Itachi got his sight back and his eyes opened back to the 4-pupil Sharingan as he uses his eyes at the sand, exploding it from around his body, being released afterwards as it also took a chomp down on the sand beneath Gaara as he flips back, landing right after Itachi did back onto the ground. "I can't use that eye, but it won't take away much anyway with this kid. I'll get around his sand barriers soon enough" Itachi thinks to himself. The two stop their fighting for a moment, getting themselves together a bit.

Meanwhile, back at the ER, Temari is still seen sitting next to Kankurou, holding his hand as he lays passed out. She looks to the man from the council and asks "Do you know anything more about Itachi?...". The councilman speaks back in reply, "Besides him being one of the strongest Genjutsu users, there isn't even much information to begin with". "What about weak points? Does he have any at all? I mean... look at what just staring him in the eye did to Kankurou. Would Gaara have a chance?" asks Temari. "Well... it's said the Mangekyou Sharingan which he harnesses doesn't last long and can cause damage to the eyes after a while... so unless Gaara survived a Genjutsu use of the Mangekyou Sharingan, and it tires the eyes of Itachi, I see no opportunities for a win. Even with his Sharingan out of use, it's not like he can just easily win either. Remember... before obtaining this eye of his, he was all ready accepted into the ANBU group of Konoha which is an elite squad of ninja ruled directly under the Hokage there... not to mention he was accepted into ANBU at an age where most are still nearly Genin. He's also an elite Katon user, along with Taijutsu. Gaara has no Taijutsu practice, and only masters in sand defense and attack, but hopefully his natural practice and immense chakra use can break down Itachi if he doesn't run out of chakra too soon" speaks the wise man from the Hidden Sand's council, giving Gaara barely any hope, letting down Temari as she didn't wish to hear such an answer. "Gaara... please do your best. Don't let him get to you. You're the Kazekage!" Temari thinks to herself as Kankurou's hand shakes a little while placed still in Temari's.

Back at the place of battle, Itachi and Gaara stare each other down yet again. "He's... so strong. It's unbelievable how content and easy it is for him to fight as he does" Gaara thinks to himself as the sand circles his body slowly. Itachi, from out of the blue dodges forward towards Gaara, catching him off guard as he attempts a punch, but as always, he ends up being blocked by the sand shield. Itachi then keeps punching and circling Gaara at such a high speed that his eyes can barely keep up to Itachi. A left punch is thrown at Gaara's right eye, followed by several punches to the chest and chin. Gaara's eye begins to bleed as he lifts his head up, holding his arms out, bending them upwards as he screams randomly with pure anger infiltrating his heart, forcing the sand around him to spin uncontrollably, catching Itachi off guard as it starts slicing at his arm and his face. Blood drips from Itachi's right cheek as he jumps back away from the enraged Gaara. Gaara then puts together a seal, "Ryusa Bakuryu!(Desert Avalanche!)" Gaara screams as suddenly, a swarm of sand made several hundred feet wide and a few stories tall starts rumbling terribly, chasing down Itachi as his eyes widen. Itachi tries to run from the avalanche chasing him, but it seems it's catching up way too quickly now as it grows more and more until it's distance becomes so immense that it is impossible to divert! "SABAKU TAISOU!(DESERT REQUIEM!)" Gaara screams with the loudest of his voice after placing his two fingers across one another as the avalanche falls heavily right over Itachi! "Shit!" screams Itachi right before the avalanche covered his body and crushed him with thousands of pounds of pressure and sand. Finally, the rumbling had stopped as Gaara stood there, panting heavily from lack of chakra with his hands placed tired to his sides along with only his uninjured eye open as blood dripped from the other. He places his fingers into a seal yet again, silently calling out another jutsu, "Sabaku Sousu(Desert Graveyard)" which forces the sand that landed over Itachi to compress itself, making it more dense as it twirls inwards in a spiral, breaking into the ground several hundred feet. Just incase Itachi is still alive... Gaara knows this should sure be enough to crush him and rip him apart from himself. Gaara stops the attack, knowing that even if he was to still be alive, he's trapped under indestructible amounts of sand and that there's no air to breath. He should soon be dead. Gaara stands there as about two minutes passes by with no sound. Gaara figures Itachi is dead as he starts to turn around and walk away, but suddenly he heard a crack within the sand. Then, within a blink of an eye, Itachi jumps out from the ground, landing roughly back onto the ground he had just been swallowed by. His breath is heavy and his robe is torn. Blood is dripping from his lips as he knocks his shoulder back into it's socket. Gaara's eyes are widened more so than ever before. "The only time... someone managed to get out of this combination of attack... was Kaguya Kimimaro... and even after he did, he died almost instantly!" Gaara thinks to himself as he turns his body forward towards Itachi. "Looks like I miscalculated your strength, Gaara! It won't happen again, plus... I'm sure you don't have much chakra to use anyway!" Itachi yells over to Gaara with an insidious smirk gently laced upon his lips. What Itachi said was true... and Gaara sure knows it. "I am out of a lot chakra... damn" Gaara says to himself as he then shouts back over to Itachi, "You too seem to be running out of your chakra, so don't talk so demeaningly towards me because my attack failed. You failed more than I so far. You can't deny that you're running low on chakra either. I'm sure of it, considering the amount of chakra you had to use to get out of my Sabaku Sousu no Jutsu. Believe it when I say I'll kill you!". Itachi still wears the smirk, but suddenly it leaves his face. He performs a hand seal, as does Gaara. "Katon! Housenka No Jutsu!(Fire Element! Phoenix Fire!)" shouts Itachi as he emits many multiple blasts of fireballs from his mouth at Gaara! "Mugen Sajin Daitoppa!(Wind Element, Great Infinite Sandblast Breakthrough!)" then yells Gaara, emitting many multiple sand flurries from his mouth to be hurled over at Itachi! The two attacks are targetted to impact eachother as Gaara and Itachi seem to have thrown away more of their chakra in these attacks.

There still seems to be no winner yet. To Itachi, it's a battle of pride and for Gaara's Jinchuriki. For Gaara, the battle's for the people of his village. Who has a more important motive? Only the shortest of time shall tell as the battle begins to reflect some more amazing scenarios!


	4. Chapter 4

**Gaara & Itachi... A Shinobi Battle.**

**Chapter 4: Of Will Or Pride? A Mended Crack & The Crack Never Touched.**

Over time, people change no matter the circumstances that occur. In the world of shinobi, these changes are even more vital. The path in which each ninja takes determines their next feeling... Their next touch, emotion and even their next action. It's a dangerous job to have to take care of the pain and discomfort of another, wether it be right or wrong, and those shinobi who enlist themselves to campaign into higher standards than the rest prove that this is reasoning in everyone's world even more so than usual. We sometimes are able to fill the cracks in our own paths, but what if those cracks shatter before you can fix it? A shattered crack can be mended back over time with help, though some turn into a shatter in the path so deep, you can hardly even reach it, even with the aid of another. Gaara & Itachi - a mended crack and the crack never touched...

In the Hidden Sand's hospital, Temari is still holding the hand of Kankurou as the councilman from before sits next to her. The man from the council looks over at Temari as her eyes blankly stare down towards the foot of Kankurou's bed, knowing that she's worrying about the Kazekage he has come to know and honor. "It'll be alright" he says to Temari as her expression brightens a little bit. "I know" she replies. Suddenly, two Hidden Sand jounin enter the room. "Sir! We've received minor information from the three jounin we sent out by the rubble of the incident that happened near the Hidden Sand entrance!" one of the men says in a rush of adrenaline. "And? ..." the councilman replies with a tone of furious anticipation. "Well, it seems we last received a report that their battle has been most destructive! Both enemies seem to be low on their chakra, but Gaara seems to be quite worn down, Sir! The opponent has barely even looked as if he tried, where Gaara has been pushing himself harder than I have ever seen... he's even used the three jutsu combo of sand he developed during his last mission three years ago! Plus, he's thrown away a lot of chakra defending himself and maneuvering, though he keeps coming close to defeating his enemy, Sir! Without verbal contact, we can't make any more conclusions than this. At least for now..." says the Sand jounin. "Hmm... Thank you. That is all" the councilman says. "All right!" replies the two jounin as they disperse quickly. "...You ..." Temari slowly mumbles, looking towards the councilman. "...Yes. I sent out spies to a far enough location that they can relay messages and be safe during the fight. I did it just before escorting Gaara here to the Hospital" the councilman said in reply before Temari was to even finish her words. "I see" says Temari. "That Itachi... he must be incredible" she says as the councilman nods in agreement, staring at the shattered paint upon Kankurou's face.

"Katon! Housenka No Jutsu!(Fire Element! Phoenix Fire!)" screams Itachi, launching his arsenal of fireballs hurling at Gaara! "Mugen Sajin Daitoppa!(Wind Element, Great Infinite Sandblast Breakthrough!)" then yells Gaara, emitting many multiple sand flurries from his mouth to be hurled over at Itachi in response. Itachi's fire clashes with the sand, impacting and blocking each other as some of each opponents jutsu sneaks by and tries to make impact on one another! As Gaara's sand smothers some of the fire hurled at him, he allows the sand of Shukaku to shield him while Itachi dodges aswell, moving side to side from the high density impact of sand blasts shooting his way! The attacks and dodging stop after about a minute of intensity as it then suddenly calms completely. Both man stare at each other with Gaara breathing hard with still only one eye open. Itachi tilts his head towards the side a bit as his chest increases and decreases in size as his breaths are becoming shallow. "Is this why you come here? You kill my people for the sake of stealing Shukaku from me?" Gaara asks. "To ease your conscience, I'll tell you this. I'm not just after Shukaku. That's what Akatsuki wants. For the moment in this fight, Do not think of me as Akatsuki, for I only wish to test my abilities as Uchiha Itachi, though if I do defeat you, I'll most certainly tear that Shukaku from you afterwards" replies the truthful Itachi. "Heh... That's fine then." Gaara says as Itachi quickly replies, "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to continue this!" as he runs forward towards Gaara, disarming himself of his robe as he throws it over to the side. Gaara then begins to charge at him as well, using the sand to levitate his body at high speeds. Itachi arms a kunai while Gaara forms one from sand and places it in the palm of his hand as they clash! A struggle of the two shinobi are seen pushing one another with their kunai, showing their strength to eachother as Gaara slowly starts moving back a bit. Itachi seems to have the upper hand as he slides Gaara back with his sand. "It seems your chakra is so low, you've lost the ability to allow the Shukaku inside to block with the sand any longer. How convenient" says Itachi as he takes a big step forward, holding Gaara back some more as he grinds his teeth, shedding his own blood from his lips in the struggle. "Damnit!" Gaara screams. Gaara then plans something as he shifts the sand from the floor behind him into a sturdy wall to hold him from being pushed back any further. Itachi's eyes become sharp with an intense aggravation as his strength becomes more terrifying as he starts throwing punches down into Gaara's gut, but quickly, Gaara raises sand around most of his body except his head and arms. Gaara then uses his open hand to direct sand into the abdomen of Itachi, beating him a bit as blood actually gently spills from the mouth of the elite shinobi! Itachi decides to jump his body into the air 180 degree's, spinning around back behind the wall of sand Gaara's back is against as he pushes off the kunai of sand Gaara had been using. Gaara's eyes open wide as he reacts quick, launching all the sand he wrapped his body with and used to support his back directly over Itachi's body. Gaara then jumps back and starts launching an amazing amount of shuriken made from the sand on the ground beneath his worn, weary feet straight at the mold of sand around Itachi, hoping to pierce through it and hit Itachi, using desperation in his attacks now, but somehow all of the kunai being thrown are being deflected by an odd molding of chakra that Itachi seems to be using as a barrier around the sand he's embedded in. Gaara stops his attack as the chakra begins to crack the sand around Itachi's body. Itachi kicks himself free as he stares Gaara down from the side with his head tilted at him - Sharingan glaring deep at Gaara with frustration as his baggy dark pants sway lightly in the wind of the desert as the blood still leaks from his mouth. "What the hell is with him?" Gaara thinks to himself, frustrated as well with his opponent. "You continue to impress me, Gaara... even when you're desperate." Itachi says to Gaara with his bloody lips forming into a smile of anger and yet a smile of impression.

Somewhere in the darkness... a group of men hidden in shadows with robes resembling that of the organization Akatsuki are seen dwelling around one another in a meeting as one asks "Hey, where is Itachi anyway? ...Yeah". A shinobi lurking far in the darkness replies "Last I heard, he wanted to test himself on your Jinchuriki.. Deidora. He mentioned maybe obtaining a Jinchuriki aswell". The one who asked the question that goes by the name Deidora replies, "That Itachi... he better not go stealing my Jinchuriki...Yeah!". "Calm down Deidora. You know Itachi and how he is. Let him have his fun. You'll have your Jinchuriki" says yet another new mysterious member of Akatsuki as Deidora replies, "Yes yes! You're right, Sasori, my Master. I'm sure he'll leave Shukaku for me at least before killing him...Yeah" as some of the other mysterious members of Akatsuki laugh morbidly towards one another.

Now, by the bloody massacre of bodies and rubble of the entrance to the Hidden Sand, the three jounin sent to spy on the battle seem to have an awe-struck expression grazing their faces as the shock of this amazing battle traumatize's the thoughts of each of them. "This fight... their power. It's a kage level fight, that's for sure, and we're lucky enough to be seeing this one guys!" says one of the men as another replies, "I know. This is insane! Gaara's so young and look at his power, putting it up against someone who can be known as the worlds strongest shinobi! It's not looking good for Gaara. What if he loses, guys?". "Don't you dare say that!" yells the third shinobi spy as he continues onwards with his words, "Gaara is our Kazekage! Have a little faith in him! He's fighting for us you know! If Gaara loses, we're all gonna die, too! If not by Itachi, then eventually someone else when they realize our village is weak with no one in charge! Do you understand how vital it is for you to put your heart and soul into our Kazekage? He's our power! He's our hope! He's... Sabaku No Gaara, The one to heal the crack in the path of hope!" yells in honor of his Kazekage as the other two shinobi look at him with smirks on their faces, as the one who doubted his Kazekage sighs in satisfaction, turning his head back towards the battlefield.

"I'm useless... I need more chakra. If I use any jutsu strong enough to possibly kill this guy... it would be my last opportunity. I need to hold him off and let him burn up his own chakra" Gaara says to himself, back on the battlefield as he stares at Itachi. Itachi stands there with his rustled hair blowing in the breeze as he turns his body fully towards his opponent. Suddenly, Itachi charges at Gaara quite quickly now, stabbing forward multiple times at Gaara as he falls back, forcing his remaining chakra to protect from the oncoming attacks by giving it to Shukaku to form his sand shield. Gaara lays back on the floor just staring at Itachi as he notices Itachi is also quite desperate when it comes to chakra. Itachi jumps back a bit, making a slight distance to give him enough time to perform his hand seal, "Katon! Karyuu Endan!(Fire Element, Fire Dragon Flame Blast!)" yells Itachi as he emits a mass amount of fire from his mouth in the shape of a dragon. Itachi cuts it from his mouth and lets it feed off the chakra in his hand to sustain it as he then calls out yet another jutsu, performing the seal with just one hand, "Katon! Goukakyou No Jutsu!(Fire Element, Grand Fireball Technique!)" as he sprays a massive cloud of fire directly at Gaara, burning the sand into black powder as he throws his hand forward, emitting the dragon of flames directly at an unguarded Gaara!

Gaara seems to be caught in the worst case scenario! Finally, Itachi's Katon jutsu's have finally penetrated the weak sand of Gaara, but now... where does that leave Gaara? Will he become yet another untouched fragment of rock layed in the path of life due to Itachi's amazing use of jutsu? Only the shortest of time will show the answer to this battle as the face-off continues onwards.


	5. Chapter 5

Gaara & Itachi... A Shinobi Battle.

Chapter 5: Take It! All Or Nothing!

At the battlefield... "Katon! Karyuu Endan!(Fire Element, Fire Dragon Flame Blast!)" yells Itachi as he emits a mass amount of fire from his mouth in the shape of a dragon. Itachi cuts it from his mouth and lets it feed off the chakra in his hand to sustain it as he then calls out yet another jutsu, performing the seal with just one hand, "Katon! Goukakyou No Jutsu!(Fire Element, Grand Fireball Technique!)" as he sprays a massive cloud of fire directly at Gaara, burning the sand into black powder as he throws his hand forward, emitting the dragon of flames directly at an unguarded Gaara! The flames overtake the body of Gaara as his scream is inevitable to hear as it plunges into a high pitch cry for desperation like never before.

"Kazekage-sama!" yells one of the three spy jounin from the rubble at the entrance of the Hidden Sand. "Shit! This isn't good!" another jounin says as he speaks into his wireless microphone, tucked firmly into his vest, "Reporting! Over!". "What is it? Over!" replies one of the two jounin receiving the message back at the council building. "It's Gaara! If he's not dead, he's definitely badly injured! Gaara is in trouble for sure! Report this to the councilman as soon as possible! The situation is definitely A-class for this level! Over!" the jounin yells through his microphone. "Wha'...?" one of the two jounins replies, back at the council building as he then replies back to the spies, "Roger that!" as he looks over to his comrade, "Let's go!" he screams as the other replies sharply, "Okay!" as they both disperse quickly, leaving for the Hospital.

Back at the Hospital, Temari and the man from the council sit still, just thinking as suddenly, Kankurou awakens from his sleep of unconsciousness with no one realizing it as words were spoken from his vague, but clear voice, "Te...mari" he says as he lifts the hand he had placed mysteriously in his sisters back towards him, laying it upon his chest". "Kankurou! You're all right?" Temari asks with enthusiasm in her sparkling black-blue eyes. "Yeah... I think I'm fine" he replies as he lifts himself upwards, sitting upright now as suddenly he yells..."GAARA! HOW'S GAARA?". "He's fighting right now with Itachi" Temari replies as Kankurou screams, "I know this! I heard some of what happened... but how is he?" as suddenly, two jounin enter the room, replying to Kankurou, "I believe I can answer that for you" one of the jounin says as Kankurou, Temari, and the councilman look in suspicion towards the jounin. "So you received more information then?" says the councilman as the same jounin replies, "Yes. It... it seems Gaara is in serious trouble. It's possible that... well, this is hard to say, but I'll try to get it over with..." as he hesitates, getting the scary attention of everyone in the room as he continues on, finishing his words, "...well, it's hard to admit, but... Kazekage-sama might be dead. It isn't confirmed though so he might just be seriously injured. Yet again, due to lack of verbal contact, we can't tell anything further". Kankurou gets up and yells, "No! Gaara's not dead! He's not weak enough to have such misfortune!". "I agree. Gaara can't just normally die like anyone else! Get your information straight before you worry us next time! If you haven't confirmed it... then he isn't dead, Do you understand?" Temari yells in partnership with Kankurou as the jounin mutters..."Y-y-...yes. I'm sorry" he says as the councilman speaks, "Go back to the council and give this news to only 5 of the best jounins you two know, and then along with them, go out and rescue our Kazekage! This is an S-Rank mission. Do you understand?" as both jounin quickly respond, "Yes!" as they disperse back into the Hidden Sands. Kankurou then tries to get up, but Temari pushes him back down into his bed. "What are you doing?" Temari yells as Kankurou replies, "I need to help Gaara!" he screams as Temari yells in response, "If you go, you're only gonna die... and if you die, I might not have any brothers left at all! Please... Kankurou. Stay here and rest until you're feeling better". Kankurou looks down at his feet as he looks away from Temari, gazing out towards the window as he watches siblings in the street outside playing together as they laugh and smile with one another, replying to Temari now, "We never had that as kids did we... Temari? We never had the simple joy of a smile from kicking a ball around, or swinging from a swing set. We were always there, learning how to protect Gaara from himself, and now he's changed in a way where we can't protect him at all, and yet through all this, you can still think of me, and also care for Gaara like a brother and sister who love one another". Temari smiles, looking down towards the floor as she silently responds, "Kankurou... you're mine and Gaara's big brother. We both know what you've done for us, and Gaara knows what we went through for him. We learned to appreciate eachother, even without having a childhood to speak of. If you're worrying, just throw that feeling away, because you should know now that Gaara couldn't afford to lose us". Kankurou responds, smiling as he looks over to Temari. "Right..." he says as his expression becomes joyous, having the councilman next to them smile along aswell, seeing the love and power of siblings right before his eyes.

Back at the battlefield, located quite far now from the Hidden Sand entrance, Itachi is seen emitting his Katon, Karyuu Endan at Gaara still as Gaara's scream is not heard in the massacre of flames. Itachi stops the attack as he looks down towards Gaara, watching the tremendous amount of smoke enter the air, then being blown by the wind of the desert. As Itachi looks down, he see's the charred body of Gaara struggling back by one hand away from Itachi as his blood covered black skin drapes in the sand. Itachi smiles as he approaches Gaara as he moves quite slowly. Itachi then presses his foot into Gaara's kidneys and twists as he screams, but to Itachi's shock, it was only a Suna Bunshin!(Sand Clone!). Gaara then appears behind the shocked Itachi with his right arm burnt and crippled, holding only one eye open as the other was scorched to quite an immense level as he tucks his shoeless right foot into the sand, tucking his pants that have been shredded up to his knee's up to his abdomen as he smirks, struggling to throw his fingers together in a sealed position as Itachi sharply turns around with his eyes widened immensely. "RYUSA BAKURYU!(DESERT AVALANCHE!)" yells Gaara as he summons yet another massive rumble from the ground to emit a giant wave of sand that is now chasing towards Itachi, forcing him to run as fast as he can, hurling as many Katon Housenka no Jutsu's(Fire Element, Phoenix Fire) as he possibly can at the avalanche of sand coming at him as it does no harm at all to the sand, swallowing anything Itachi throws at it! "Shit! If this thing gets me, it wouldn't be convenient!" Itachi says to himself. Itachi then decides as he's still running from the destructive waving avalanche of sand, he'd throw a massive attack at it as he forms the seal for his Katon, Karyuu Endan no Jutsu(Fire Element, Fire Dragon Flame Blast). Gaara screams as he holds his palm outwards towards the rampaging sand, closing his fist as the avalanche begins to break apart. "Sabaku...TAISOU!(Desert... REQUIEM!) Gaara slurs as the avalanche begins to hurl down towards Itachi at high speed as it becomes more dense! "Katon! Karyuu Endan no Jutsu!" Itachi yells, unleashing yet another giant flame from his mouth in the shape of a dragon at the sand, but this one was bigger than any of the other katon jutsu's(Fire Techniques) Itachi has used so far, and it seems to not even work as the sand collapses downwards in a spiral, tearing apart the flames from Itachi's mouth as it covers him whole as a quick, gentle scream was heard from Itachi's mouth before being suffocated under the sand as it tears apart and changes the landscape of the desert! The rumbling made from the psychotic blast that was emitted finally ends as Gaara falls to his knee's, holding himself up by just his uninjured hand as his breathing becomes intense as blood spouts from his mouth after coughing. "Did I?..." Gaara thinks to himself with a curious look in his eye.

"Yes! I knew Kazekage-sama couldn't lose!" yells one of the three spies by the Hidden Sand entrance. "KAZEKAGE-SAMA!" screams another as a smile was laced upon his once doubtful face. They all look back at the wreckage, wondering if it was truly over.

Gaara is seen walking towards the area where Itachi was devoured by the sand. He kicks around, trying to dig up his body, but he comes out empty handed. Three minutes has looked like it passed as the three spy jounin appear by their Kazekage. "Kazekage-Sama! You did it!" yells one of the jounin. Gaara looks to him, then looks away with a curious image pressed upon his injured and bloody face. "Come on! Let's help him find the body to confirm Uchiha Itachi's death" says one of the jounin as suddenly... Gaara's eyes sharpen as he hears the thuds of kunai being thrown! Gaara jumps over and tackles the only jounin he can reach and save from the kunai assault as the other two try to avoid them, but sadly, they are taken down as the kunai pierced through their necks, killing them as blood shot out from the holes in their throats. As Gaara lands on the floor ontop of the jounin he had saved, he looks over the side, seeing Itachi with bloodied clothing and his Sharingan finally gone from his eyes as Gaara forms a sand kunai with the last of his chakra. Itachi throws his final kunai at Gaara as Gaara throws his at the same moment. Gaara is pierced through the shoulder by the kunai in the one arm that remained uninjured before the attack, falling completely on the floor as Gaara's sand kunai pierces the chest cavity of Itachi, knocking him back and to one knee. "Gaara... it seems we're at a standstill. We both have no chakra left and are injured beyond movement" Itachi says as he coughs, spitting out a puddle of his own blood as Gaara replies, "...yeah". "Our fight is settled. The fight with me is over, but one day, you'll soon be surprised again by someone like me. Until the day we meet again... Goodbye, Sabaku no Gaara" Itachi says as he pulls out the sand kunai from his chest cavity, throwing it to the floor as he puts his fingers together, forming a seal as he disperses away from the battle. Gaara looks to where Itachi was with a saddened guilt upon his face as he struggles to keep both of his eyes open. "Kaze...kage-sama. Are you all right?" says the jounin he saved, buried under Gaara's bloody body as suddenly, Gaara decides to pass out on the floor. "KAZEKAGE-SAMA?" the jounin yells as he rolls Gaara over to his side, worried that... Gaara might actually be dead. Gaara's face, emptied of emotions, collapses towards his side as a thick spout of blood drains from his lips.

The battle seems to be over, but is Gaara actually dead? The amazing conclusion to this story will approach the answers to these questions as Gaara lays there, barely looking like he has any life left in him! ...and what about Itachi? Where is he, and how is his condition? Only the shortest of time shall tell in the amazing ending to this story!


	6. Chapter 6

Gaara & Itachi... A Shinobi Battle.

Chapter 6: Of Sorrow & Return.

(Pre-Chapter Prompt): This whole story is based on the instinctive response of love and will. A draw was determined not just for the story, but to show that people can always believe differently in the things they see and have, even if it was obtained through false pretenses and decisions. When you believe in something, it becomes YOUR fate, and only YOUR fate. Itachi didn't live in the world of shinobi knowing that he had done wrong, but rather, he believed in the story that his pride and skill was his answer for living, so it became his will of fire. Gaara found that he had people to protect, feeling responsible for others rather than himself, and that brought him the will that he personally needed to allow himself to face off against Itachi. The draw was decided as it seemed more than a battle of jutsu and skill. It was a battle to show the equality in each of their dreams and beliefs. I guess it's true when you say... "Aslong as you believe, you can accomplish". Believing is everything in our lives, so find what's important and follow through with a fist that a wall couldn't even break and live on to tell tales of your glory... even if we can't agree on everything, we can always agree we each respect the decision to have human compassion's, just like will. Believe & achieve. Sianara!

For every breath, Gaara felt it wasn't worth it. The day of the battle between Gaara and Itachi, a saddening total of 32 ninja had been killed. Most of them were look out guards for the entrance of the Hidden Sand village, just doing their duty to protect one another, but instead, in the end, they needed protection themselves that came at too late of a time. A stubborn attitude of sadness and regret; This is the weight of being the Kazekage. He wasn't victorious in battle, but he was victorious in knowing he couldn't let the deaths of the ninja who had fallen that day go to waste, and became victorious in protecting the village itself, but that's not enough to disarm the fragile weight of pain embedded in his heart, thinking about the loss of love those deaths will bring to families and friends. To protect the safety of the village, Gaara couldn't explain this to the council with the exact truth. It's known to only a select few how those men died on that dreadful day that Itachi raided the body and innards of fallen shinobi... and even Gaara himself. A final tale comes forward, revealing the results of what's to come...

Welcome to the finale. Enjoy!

"We're here! They should be around here somewhere!" yells a jounin to the other six that seem to have accompanied him. "I see him! Kazekage-sama's down!" yells the jounin in the front of the group. "Let's go!" he then yells, jumping and running through the rubble of the Hidden Sand entrance to the position of Gaara's body. "Hmm? Reinforcements?" says the jounin that was laid next to Gaara as all seven jounin land next to the two on the ground. "KAZEKAGE-SAMA!" yells the jounin that seemed to be hovering over Gaara that had just arrived as he dispatches the sleeve around his hand, revealing a glove on his hand as he yells, "He might still have a chance to live! Thankfully I was mildly trained in Medical Ninjutsu!" as he places the gloved hand over the heart of his Kazekage, emitting a green chakra into him as it flows gently around the jounin's hand. "Shit! Will this work?" yells one of the jounin standing back from the crowd. "It should! If I can emit enough chakra into his heart to start it pumping again, and then extract my own chakra flow into his circulatory system, he should be okay. The thing is... I am having trouble getting his heart started. I'm not that advanced in Medical Ninjutsu just yet, but I know the basics. This is the only chance right now for Kazekage-sama!" yells the vaguely experienced Medical ninja. "Come on Damnit! Please... Start beating!" he yells, molding the green chakra even more so around Gaara's chest.

An image of Gaara standing alone as a young child appears, holding his stuffed bear tightly in his arms as he started to cry, barely rocking himself back and forth on the swing set that he had scared all the kids away from with his sand. The thoughts of Gaara as the Kazekage starts being mysteriously heard, "I'm... so alone" he thinks, as the presently aged Gaara walks up to himself by the swing set as a child, sitting on the swing next to himself with his eyes looking directly at the younger memory of himself. "Where am I?" the present Gaara says as the younger one replies, "You're... in loneliness" the boy replies as the present Gaara's eyes widen, then tightening in curiosity. "Why am I here?" he asks as the younger version of himself disappears, as does the swing set. Gaara then see's himself standing up after rushing off the dissipating swing set. His image becomes small and vague. "What's happening?" he asks himself outloud as their was a reply from his own voice, "You're trying to live... to live to see their faces". Gaara falls down on his knee's, holding his fists tightly, confused like never before as he see's images of Naruto standing infront of him, all alone. Suddenly, Kakashi, Sakura & Sasuke join Naruto. Then the Third Hokage, Fifth Hokage & Jiraiya, followed by Iruka, Lee, Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba & Akamaru, Ino, Ten-Ten, Chouji, Shino and Hinata. "I envy you... Uzumaki Naruto, for the friends you have made" Gaara says as he turns back in time into the child, all alone... but no one appears in the image for Gaara. "There was never anyone there for me" the child Gaara speaks out loud, continuing on with his words, "...never anyone there. Not even once". Suddenly, screams are heard as everything around Gaara becomes white, "He's coming to!" as he looks around oddly for where the voice is. Suddenly, blackness covers everything in sight...

"Look at that! He's finally awake! You had us scared to death, you know that, little brother?" Temari yells to Gaara as the bloodied eyes of the Kazekage open up, looking around with his head moving very slowly as he see's Temari, Kankurou, the entire council, and all of the jounin that had helped on their mission standing to his sides. "Where am I?" Gaara asks. "Silly! You've been out for quite a few hours you know! Thankfully, everyone managed to rush you here to the Hospital quickly enough to treat your injuries" Kankurou replies. "What happened to me?" Gaara asks as Temari speaks, "Apparently, after you fought it out with Itachi, you pretty much dropped completely dead! These jounin saved you" as Gaara looks around, thinking to himself, "They... saved me?". Gaara then lets out a smile. "Hey! What's with that smile, Gaara?" yells Temari as Gaara replies confused, "What?..." he says. "Yeah! You never smiled before! It doesn't suit you so stop it!" replies Kankurou. "All these jounin... Temari, Kankurou... they helped save me. This feeling... What is it? It's not... lonliness..." Gaara thinks to himself, still with that unfit smile slapped across his face. "I'm sorry" Gaara generally says to the people in the Hospital room. "Sorry for what, Gaara?" the councilman replies as he continues onwards, "You protected us with your life! There are people out there that have avoided the idea of fear because of your selflessness. You're incredible! It was a good decision to have you placed as Kazekage". "I can't believe this is what became of me. Uzumaki Naruto... again, I thank you for helping me see the light of my beliefs. Thanks for sharing your will of the ninja" Gaara says to himself as Temari sits next to him, holding Gaara's hand as he looks down at it, smiling a tad wider now as they both look out of the window to their right together, watching the birds fly, swooping side-by-side one another.

"Itachi. Are you alright now?" says Kisame in a cave as he buttons up his Akatsuki robe, looking over to the bandaged and wounded Itachi. "I'm fine" Itachi says as he looks over to the side. "I guess that jinchuriki kid is better than we thought to have been able to do this to you of all people. Teh...! I don't know anyone in their right mind who would even dare attack you. You're lucky you had enough chakra to bring yourself here instead of using it to finish off the kid!" Kisame says as he smirks over towards Itachi. "...yeah" Itachi replies with a sigh in his voice, silently breathing as he closes his eyes. "Ahh!... so this is what happens when you're a Sharingan user who relies too much on his eyes, huh?... Yeaaah!" says another member of Akatsuki as he shows himself from the shadows, revealing that it was Deidora. "Hey... you're the one that's gonna have to take that kids jinchuriki now, so let's see you try it!" Kisame replies for Itachi as Itachi then speaks, "If you want Shukaku, use the village as your enemy, not the kid". "What the hell is that supposed to mean?...Yeah" replies Deidora. "Itachi only failed because not only was the kid powerful, but he was injured, and if he used his remaining chakra injured as he was to beat him, he without a doubt would have died since he wouldn't be able to get here. If he started off the fight by invading the Hidden Sand itself, and used the innocent people for his goal, the jinchuriki would have been too busy protecting his people, so he'd be bound to run out of his chakra much quicker, but Itachi wasn't there for the Shukaku, understand?" says Kisame. "Well, you gave me an idea then... Yeah!" says Deidora as he walks away, back into the shadows he came from. "Stupid fool. I don't know why we accepted him into Akatsuki... Psh!" yells Kisame as Itachi looks up, bearing his Sharingan as he replies to Kisame's statement, "It's okay... Kisame. My objective was complete. Deidora can conquer his jinchuriki now" as Kisame looks at him, slightly wide-eyed.

A week had passed in the Hidden Sand as Gaara is seen to be mostly recovered, standing over the Hidden Sand's monument of the deceased, as it lists the names of everyone that had died the day Itachi had come to challenge Gaara. He holds his hands in prayer position for a moment, throwing a rose ontop of the monument as a scream is suddenly heard, "Gaara! Come on! We have a meeting to attend!" said the councilman that had helped the day of the tragedies. Gaara looks down as he replies, "...Yeah..." as he walks away from the monument with a sadness in his eyes. "Gaara... they died happy for their village, like you would have done. Not to be harsh, but accept it and acknowledge it... and let's move on, shall we?" says the councilman as Gaara replies yet again, "...Yeah..." as he smirks a tad joyously now, walking over to the building of the meeting.

Sitting back in his chair at the council, Gaara begins listening in on the conversations as he once did quite often, having a lack of interest as always as the elders speak. "So that's what we told the villagers the destruction at the main entrance was?" says a younger member of the council as the elder replies, "Yes... and remember it, too this time!", yelling it over to everyone as one of the members of the council sitting near the middle of the square table asks, "Uhh... what was it again?". "IDIOT!" the elder screams as he continues on..."I'll say it one more time for you to hear! The avalanche that occurred at the Hidden Sand's main entrance was caused by a freak lightning bolt hitting it! Understand?". "Uhh.. Yes yes! But there's one thing I don't get!" the younger council member says as the elder replies, "What is it?". "Well... we're in the middle of the desert and it really doesn't thunder here! Also... it didn't even rain the day of the incident" he answers back, having the elder scream, "THAT'S THE STORY! GOT IT? EVERYONE?". "Yes!" yells everyone around the table as Gaara looks away from the council meeting with his eyes as blank as always, smiling as he thinks to himself suddenly... "I'm not... alone", "I'm not alone... anymore".

The End.


End file.
